Page 52 of Out of Sight

“Alright then!” Our friend rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get you kids into new clothes, we’ll wrap that shoulder in a sling, then get some food in our bellies so you can take something for the pain.”

That sounded amazing. My wrist hadn’t stopped throbbing since the blast.

Will gestured for me to enter the tent first, surprising me when he closed the tent flap to separate us. The gentlemanly side of him was coming back out, making it more difficult for me to stay mad at him.

I opened up the duffel bag Jim tossed in with me to find jeans, puffy insulated jackets, thermal shirts, tennis shoes, and—thankfully—clean underwear. Definitely more reasonable than what Iwasn’twearing for my date. I changed out of my dirty and bloody clothes quickly, unzipping the flap for Will to do the same next. He didn’t bother waiting for meto leave before he dropped his pants, pulling on a new pair of jeans. I helped him out of his shirt and into a new one, worried about him injuring himself.

But even that little bit of skin to skin contact reminded me how good he felt pressed up against me, hands on my-

“Alright, lovebirds,” Jim popped his head back in. He must have changed out in the the open since he was in clean clothes as well. “Who’s hungry?”

Jim brought in the second duffel, hauling his body down to the floor and opening it to show us the most beautiful thing I could imagine: food.

“Awesome!” Will exclaimed, digging in and pulling out a couple dehydrated camping meals, water bottles, granola bars, and the biggest bag of trail mix I’d ever seen. “Claire, you like Italian, right? Try the spaghetti.”

And he smiled that charming smile of his, making me feel anything but annoyed as he kept my comfort at the front of his mind, even for something as simple as first choice of which shitty camp food to eat. I shook my head. I really wasn’t hungry.

“Here. Take some of these for later, at least. It’s always good to have something on hand,” he cajoled, stuffing a couple granola bars into my jacket pocket and zipping them in. I nodded and gave him a small smile, trying to show some gratitude.

Was something wrong with me? Will clearly really liked me. He did everything for me, tried to think of my needs and wants before his own. He was kind, even when I was a bitch to him. Sure, he made some questionable choices, but he was trying todo better than he had in the past, and his choices today were for the best—Jim said so himself.

Why couldn’t I just accept that he was a changed man, agoodman? What was holding me back?

“You know,” Jim said around a mouthful of rehydrated chicken chow fun, “Something about this whole thing just isn’t sitting right with me. How did he find us again? I’ve been thinking on it and a mole in the office just doesn’t make sense. This case is too high profile. No one knew exactly where we were except my boss’s boss’s boss. His number is on that business card I gave you earlier this week, by the way. I’ve got another one in your pocket there.”

He nodded to me and I patted first my jacket, then my jeans and found a business card identical to what he gave me in the hotel room in Portland on the second day we knew each other. I carefully put it back in my pocket, hoping I wouldn’t need to use it.

“I made the assignments,” Jim continued, “Got the IDs sorted, chose the safehouse. The closest anyone else might have known was Portland, but if they followed us to Darling Cascades from there, they should have made their move days ago. So it just doesn’t make any sense.”

I remembered Antonio’s psychotic little smile and finger wave. He wasn’t surprised to see us at the bookshop. He knew exactly where to find us.

How? Would Antonio be able to do it again? I scooted closer to Will, leaning into his side when he wrapped an arm around me. And how was it that he stillsmelled so good?

I heard a bird call and leaves rustling outside of the tent. My imagination wanted to wander, imagining boogeymen with guns and knives big enough to partially dismember bodies sneaking up on us, but it just wasn’t possible. The only people who knew we were here were the three of us. And even if I wanted to distrust Jim or Will, neither of them had the opportunity to betray our new location.

I heard more leaves rustling and a twig breaking.

It must not have been my imagination because Jim was unholstering his gun and Will was reaching for my shoes, handing them off to me before grabbing his own. I hurried to put them on and tie the laces, then helped Will tie his. Jim crouched near the entrance of the tent. His hand twitched and I could see the debate in his eyes, glancing from the tent zipper and up again several times before he decided to go for it and unzipped the entrance.

Will crouched in front of me, holding me behind him with his good arm as Jim took the first couple cautious steps out. Will leaned forward to peer outside the tent flaps, searching outside for any sign of danger.

Instead it was the back of the tent that ripped open, a jagged knife tearing open a large hole. I screamed, pushing into Will as we both stumbled out as fast as possible. We made it out with Jim as Antonio peeked his face inside the hole he’d made.

“Found you!”

What, was this hide and seek?!

Jim grabbed my bad arm above the elbow, Will holding my good hand, and the three of us fled into the trees.

“Don’t waste your energy!” I could hear Antonio shout from somewhere behind us. “I’ll find you wherever you go!”

That was the problem. How was he doing it? Jim said we were going off grid where not even the rest of his department knew where we were going to be. The only people who knew were me, Will, and Jim.

Either Jim was crooked and had been an inside informant all along…

Or Will, the man I gave my body—and if we had more time, my heart—to had betrayed us.

Will, who used to work doing illegal things. Who didn’t want me to call Jim for help when Antonio found us in the bookshop. Who stole a car mere hours ago. Who had of his own admission killed a man before, and was party to disposing of another body just a week ago.

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